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Rheological characterization of commercial highly viscous alginate solutions in shear and extensional flows

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Abstract

The rheological properties of sodium alginate in salt-free solutions were studied by steady shear, dynamic oscillatory and extensional measurements. This biopolymer consists of mannuronic and guluronic acid residues that give a polyelectrolyte character. We applied the scaling theories and checked their accordance with polyelectrolyte behaviour for low concentrations with a shift to neutral polymer behaviour at larger concentrations. This nature was supported by the effect of the concentration on the specific viscosity, the relaxation times from steady shear and the longest relaxation times from small amplitude oscillatory shear (SAOS) measurements. To analyze the extensional behaviour of the samples, we conducted a study of dimensionless numbers and time scales where filament thinning driven by viscous, capillary or elastic forces is at play. We conclude that an exponential filament thinning followed by breakup results in the best regimes that describe the experimental data. Besides, the data pointed out that alginate in salt-free concentrated solutions shows strain thinning of the extensional viscosity and chain rigidity, behaviours that cannot be inferred from the shear rheometry.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by funds from the European Research Council (ERC). Project MYCAP (258984) STARTING GRANTS 2010.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Salamanca, P/Los Caídos S/N, 37008, Salamanca, Spain

    Cristina Rodríguez-Rivero, Eva M. Martín del Valle & Miguel A. Galán

  2. Institute for Polymers and Composites and Institute for Nanostructures, Nanomodelling and Nanofabrication, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800-058, Guimarães, Portugal

    Loic Hilliou

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  1. Cristina Rodríguez-Rivero
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  2. Loic Hilliou
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  3. Eva M. Martín del Valle
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Correspondence to Eva M. Martín del Valle.

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Rodríguez-Rivero, C., Hilliou, L., Martín del Valle, E.M. et al. Rheological characterization of commercial highly viscous alginate solutions in shear and extensional flows. Rheol Acta 53, 559–570 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00397-014-0780-4

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